NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



227 



realized that this was very strange, and so 

 he went and asked Je Seo (or Ye Seo). Je 

 Seo said to him, "Ai, I am afraid that you 

 are feeding some strange things." He said, 

 "I am only feeding a small fish." Je Seo then 

 said to him, "When you go home today, you 

 take the combs, brooms, cooking vessels, 

 bowls, and brushes and pick them all up and 

 pretend that you are going away. Then you 

 hide behind your house and see what the fish 

 changes into." 



He then returned home and did as he was 

 told. After he had gone out of the house, 

 he secretly came back and looked. He saw 

 the colored fish in the water jar leap out and 

 shake itself. It took off its fish skin and care- 

 fully laid it down. Then it suddenly changed 

 into a young girl of eighteen years. She went 

 about everywhere looking for a broom to 

 sweep the floor with, but she could not find 

 any. She lifted the basket aside. Then Mr. 

 Mbla came and seized her. She did not refuse, 

 but became his wife. 



That day Mr. Mbla went again and netted 

 fish, and the girl said to him, "You need not 

 go and fish." He said, "If I do not go we 

 shall have nothing to eat." She said, "Now 

 I have some rice in my belt. You can boil 

 that for us to eat." In this way they had rice 

 to eat every day. 



Afterward the woman said to him, "To- 

 night you may go to bed early. My father 

 and my brothers will come and build a house 

 for us to live in." That night Mr. Mbla went 

 to bed early. Next morning he got up and 

 looked, and they were living in a big house. 

 Then he asked the woman what her name 

 was. She said to him, "My name is Ngan 

 Ryuang Bang (young girl dragon flower)." 

 After this they had everything that tliey 

 needed. 



Later this husband began to covet other 

 pretty girls, and he went and had friendly 

 intercourse with a neighbor girl, Nts'ai Ngan 

 Go. Later Nts'ai Ngan Go made up her mind 

 to deceive him. She told him that his wife 

 had some big boils on her back. He said, 

 "What evidence have you that she has these 

 boils?" She said, "Tonight you look at her 

 feet. There will be scabs like chaff on her 

 feet." 



When he went home, he looked at his wife's 

 feet. At one grab he pulled off a great deal 

 of white skin. Then he said to her, "I do 

 not want you because you have white boils 

 on your body." She said, "I truly haven't 

 any." Mbla then said, "Today I do not want 

 you." His wife said, "If you really do not 

 want me, you may go and cut off brier bushes 

 and three vines. Go to the cliff below the road 

 and cut off three other vines." Mr. Mbla 



then went and got them ready for her. Then 

 his wife braided them into a whip and struck 

 to the right and to the left with it. Then, 

 to his surprise, the big house slid down into 

 the big pool. 



Then Mr. Mbla went to bring Ngan Go 

 to be his wife. But when she came, to his 

 surprise she would not do any work. When 

 she saw that he had nothing, she did not 

 care to live with him. In his house he did 

 not even have rice to eat. Later even Mr. 

 Mbla could not live there, and he went to 

 the edge of the big pool and there wept, call- 

 ing every day for Ngan Ryuang Bang saying, 

 "Bang, Bang, Ngan Go did me harm." 



When Ryuang Lan heard it he said to his 

 daughter, "I told you to go and save that 

 orphan. Why do you not go?" The daughter 

 sighed and said, "Because Mr. Mbla did me 

 great harm." But Mr. Mbla did not cease to 

 call. 



One day a Chinese came carrying a load of 

 cloth on a carrying pole. When he saw Mr. 

 Mbla crying, the Chinese asked him what he 

 was crying about. He then said that he was 

 crying about his wife. The Chinese said, "You 

 do not need to cry. Let me help you." When 

 he had said this, the Chinese helped him call. 



When they had called for three days and 

 nights, the Chinese became tired of calling 

 and went to sleep. Then Mbla got up and 

 carried away the Chinese man's cloth. Later, 

 when the Chinese awoke, he cried out, "Bang, 

 Bang." When Ryuang Lan heard it, he 

 scolded his daughter loudly and the daughter 

 at one big step leaped out. Then the Chinese 

 seized her and she became his wife. Later 

 Mr. Mbla sold the cloth and used up the 

 money. Then he again ran to the edge of 

 the pool. But when he saw that the woman 

 was the wife of the Chinese, he did not dare 

 to try to get her. He could only cry about her. 



The woman then took pity on him and tied 

 an embroidered handkerchief on his head. 

 He hardly realized it, but he was changed into 

 a small bird. This bird (the small kingfisher) 

 is still living. 



The Dragon's Daughter Saved One in Dis- 

 tress (474) 



There were two brothers who divided the 

 old home.^ The heart of the older brother 

 was bad. The heart of the younger brother 

 was not evil. The older brother alone took 

 possession of the inheritance. The younger 

 brother did not get a thing. 



When the father died, only the mother was 

 left. Her eyes were poor. Then the older 



8 They separated and each formed a new home. 



